Goodbye, Don Glees! Sets U.S. Theatrical Release Date

The acclaimed New York-based producer and distributor GKIDS has announced that the upcoming anime film Goodbye, Don Glees! will be hitting the theaters across the nation in September. GKIDS is also partnering up with Fathom Events to host fan preview events prior to the theatrical release.

Produced by Studio Madhouse, which has been behind iconic anime titles like Death Note and Black Lagoon, Goodbye, Don Glees! is the first original feature from Atsuko Ishizuka, who scripted and directed the project. The film tells the story of a group of three young friends – Roma, Toto, and Drop – who, during one fateful Summer, get blamed for starting a forest fire. To clear their names, the trio go out searching for a missing drone that has footage that can prove their innocence.

The official synopsis for the film reads: “Teen misfits Roma, Toto, and Drop call themselves the “Don Glees,” an informal name for their backyard adventures. One day, when the trio gets blamed for a nearby forest fire, they set off into the woods to prove their innocence. As disaster strikes their expedition, tensions flare between the friends as they realize that growing up has taken them on wildly different paths in life.”

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The coming-of-age film was first announced in July 2021 and in February of this year, it was released in Japan. Goodbye, Don Glees! stars popular Japanese voice actors like Yuuki Kaji as Toto (Eren Jaeger in Attack on Titan), Natsuki Hanae as Roma (Tanjiro Kamado in Demon Slayer), Ayumu Murase as Drop (Shoyo Hinata in Haikyu!!), and Kana Hanazawa as Chibori Urayasu (Mayuri Shiina in Steins;Gate). The movie is having its North America premiere this Friday at Anime Expo in Los Angeles. Anime Expo began on Friday, July 1, and will last until Monday, July 4.

Takahiro Yoshimatsu was in charge of the character design, with Ayano Okamoto as the Art Director, Jin Aketagawa as Sound Director, and Yūki Kawashita as Director of Photography, while Yoshiaki Fujisawa composed the music. The movie’s runtime is 95 minutes, and it has been rated PG.

The fan preview events for Goodbye, Don Glees! will be taking place in theaters nationwide on Wednesday, September 14, in Japanese, and on Thursday, September 15, dubbed in English. These special events will be followed by a limited theatrical release starting on Friday, September 16.

You can acquire your tickets starting on Friday, August 5, at Fathomevents.com, GoodbyeDonGlees.com, or at participating theater box offices.

Check out the trailer below: